How This Baby-Faced 18-Year-Old Was Caught Pretending to Be a Real Doctor

For the second time.

This goes well beyond an active imagination: 18-year-old Malachi A. Love-Robinson was arrested in Florida for posing as a doctor and operating a fake medical practice. On the website for Malachi’s “New Birth New Life Medical Center & Urgent Care, LLC,” he describes himself as “a well rounded professional that treats, and cares for patients, using a system of practice that bases treatment of physiological functions and abnormal conditions on natural laws governing the human body.” Though the site claims the “Naturopathic Physician” is board-certified by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners (AADP) and the American Alternative Medical Association (AAMA), it’s unclear if he’s actually certified with either organization (and neither is a recommended alternative medicine organization by the government).

Malachi had been seeing patients in a West Palm Beach office for his sham practice business since January, while the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and the Department of Public Health were simultaneously conducting their own investigation. That inquiry came to a head when an undercover agent posed as a patient at Malachi’s office. According to police, the teen offered medical advice and performed a physical exam on the agent, which was enough to get him arrested and charged with practicing medicine without a license and fraudulently obtaining a Naturopathic Medical License. “These allegations and accusations will be cleared up and you will hear from my lawyer,” Malachi told WBPF after his arrest. “I’m hurt because of the accusations and the allegations, but like I said, this is not the first time where I’ve been accused and I will pursue this.”

Indeed it was not the first time Malachi was suspected of foul play. Though he opened his “official” office last month, he raised red flags last year, when he was allegedly posing as a doctor at St. Mary’s Medical Center. Malachi admitted to a local ABC affiliate, WPFB 25 News, that he was the 17-year-old teen caught in a pregnant woman’s exam room, but said that he was simply shadowing physicians. Several months later, in October, Malachi received a cease and desist order from the Department of Health when they discovered he was working as an unlicensed massage therapist at a local rehabilitation facility.

But that didn’t stop the Doogie Howser wannabe. In January, Malachi provided medical advice and treatment — including home visits — to an 86-year-old woman, and allegedly stole checks from her purse that she left behind after he advised the patient go to the hospital. The woman told investigators that she later found nearly $2,800 in forged checks made out to “Dr. Malachi A. Love” and “New Birth New Life Medical Center.”

But despite the evidence and charges against him, Malachi — who was released on bail shortly after his arrest — still believes he did nothing wrong. As far as he’s concerned, he’s a licensed and legitimate holistic doctor. Malachi told the Palm Beach Post that he received a Ph.D. online from a private university. And, as fishy as everything here seems, he’s set on clearing his name and even getting a traditional medical degree. “What this is is defamation of my name, my character,” Malachi told the Palm Beach Post. “After all of this is cleared, I’m going to pursue my M.D. And I promise you, I will be the best M.D. the world has ever seen.”

Forgive us if we don’t rush to book an appointment with Dr. Love-Robinson if this ever happens.